Lipases are useful, e.g., as detergent enzymes to remove lipid or fatty stains from clothes and other textiles, as additives to dough for bread and other baked products. Thus, a lipase derived from Thermomyces lanuginosus (synonym Humicola lanuginosa, EP 258 068 and EP 305 216) is sold for detergent use under the tradename Lipolase® (product of Novo Nordisk A/S). WO 0060063 describes variants of the T. lanuginosus lipase with a particularly good first-wash performance in a detergent solution. WO 9704079, WO 9707202 and WO 0032758 also disclose variants of the T. lanuginosus lipase.
In some applications, it is of interest to minimize the formation of odor-generating short-chain fatty acids. Thus, it is known that laundry detergents with lipases may sometimes leave residual odors attached to cloth soiled with milk (EP 430315).